Repeating firearm.



J. H. WHEELER.

REPEATING FIREARM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1913.

1,089,736, v .Patented Mar. 10,1914

: I 3 W00 who;

a?) c; M1554 E/Z Mm W hZTgg COLUMBIA PLANoGkAPH (IO-.WASHINGTON. 0. c4

" ITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN H. WHEELER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR To THE MARLIN HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OE FIREARMS COMPANY, OE NEW CONNECTICUT.

REPEATING FIREARM.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914:.

Application filed November 3, 1913. Serial No. 798,805.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN H. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, New Havencounty, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Repeating Firearms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in repeating firearms having reciprocating breech blocks.

I have shown my present improvement in "connection with a firearm such as set forth in detail in Hepburn Patent No. 943,828, dated December 21st, 1909.

The object of the present invention is to provide means to assist in the reversal of movement of the breech mechanism when it shifts in its direction of movement from rearward to forward. In many reciprocat ing breech mechanisms,'the parts of the mechanism tend to bind, drag or hitch at this position, which impairs materially the. smooth and easy movement of the action mechanism, and it is to overcome this tendency to bind, drag or hitch at this reversing position that the present invention is designed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a repeating firearm with the side plate removed and with the barrel, magazine and part of the stock re moved. Fig; 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of certain features of construction. Fig. 3 is-a similar view.

I need not describe in detail the particular features of construction of thebreech mechanism including, for example, such parts as the receiver, breech block and locking bolt, carrier, hammer, trigger, extractor, ejector and associated devices, in so far as such parts are shown in the aforesaid patent, since a detailed description of such features of construction and their mode of operation may be found therein.

1 represents a receiver which in this instance has a removable side-plate exposing the interior breech mechanism including a reciprocating combined breech block and locking bolt. This breech block and locking bolt comprises the block 2 and the bolt 3 hinged to the rear of the bolt, said locking bolt 3 being arranged to interlock with the receiver when the parts are in the locked position ready for firing.

ft represents a hinged carrier. The other m nor details of construct-ion, such as the trlgger, hammer, ejector, extractor and the like, may be of any well known appropriate form. n

5 represents the action rod by which the breech mechanism may be moved. In this particular instance the firearm is of the socalled pump action type, the action rod being arranged to enter the front end of the receiver and make an appropriate connection with the breech mechanism. The forward end of the action rod, as usual, is

provided with a suitable handle (not shown) arranged underneath the usual barrel (not shown). By reciprocating the action rod 5 to and fro, the breech mechanism ated, the block 2 and bolt 3 being reciprocated to and fro. these parts in the rearward position where the direction of movement is about to be reversed; that is to say, in opening the gun the action rod 5 is pulled back carrying back the parts 2 and 3. When the parts reach the limit of their rearward excursion, the power applied to the action rod 5 is reversed, thus tending to pull the parts 2 and 3 forwardly. On this reversing of the direction of movement, the parts may have a tendency to bind, interrupting the easy action of the gun, and my present improvement, therefore, comprehends the employment of what I may term a reverse assisting means, the purpose of which is to mechanically assist the operator in causing the breech mechanism to be reversed with ease and smoothness, thereby adding very materially to the comfort of the operator. This reverse assisting means comprises in its preferred form a spring pressed plunger 6 arranged in such position relatively to the reciprocating parts that when said parts approach their rearmost position, this plunger will be repressed, the power required to repress the plunger being unnoticeableto the operator by reason of the momentum of the parts in a direction to cause said repression. .When the parts have reached the limit of their rearward excursion and pressure on the action rod 5 is reversed, the spring pressed plunger 6 operates in a direction to force is oper- In Fig. 1 I have shown the internal breech mechanism ahead, thereby assisting the power applied to the action rod 5 in a forward direction. By this simple expedient, the smoothness of action is very materially improved.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 8, the part 6 is engaged by the rear end of the locking bolt 3, the point of contact being preferably slightly below the firing point indicated at 7 said bolt 3 being appropriately shaped to engage said plunger 6. The plunger is preferably carried in a tubular extension 8 which is arranged to screw into and become a rigid part of the rear end of the receiver 1. This tubular extension 8 may have its rear end threaded as indicated in Fig. 2 to receive the threaded end of a long screw 9 which may pass longitudinally into the stock from its rear end so as to engage the tubular extension 8 by which means the stock 10 may be screwed forwardly against the rear end of the receiver. The tube 8 may constitute a housing in which to locate a spring 11, the tendency of which is in a forward direction so as to impel the plunger 6 forwardly. A shoulder 12 inside of the sleeve 8 limits the forward movement of the plunger.

The plunger may have a rearward rod extension 13 arranged within the spring, the rear end of said rod extension 13 being guided in a bushing 14, which latter may form an abutment for the rear end of the spring 11. The combined bushing 14 may be held against the rearward movement by any suitable means, for example, by means of a pin 15.

I have described herein merely the preferred form of my invent-ion which, of course, may be modified in a variety of ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 1 have also shown my improvement in a preferred location, which location may also be varied.

What I claim is:

1. In a repeating firearm, reciprocating breech mechanism, manually controllable means for moving said mechanism backward and forward, means cooperating with said breech mechanism when said breech mechanism is in the position where the direction of movement from rearward to forward is being reversed, said last mentioned means mechanically assisting in said reversing of the parts, said breech mechanism being free from the influence of said reverse assisting means for a portion of its travel.

2. In a repeating firearm, breech mechanism movable rearwardly to unload the fire' arm and forwardly to load the firearm,

means cooperating with said breech mechanism only when the same is in its rear position to assist it on the beginning of its forward movement, with a manually controlled operating device associated with said breech mechanism for manually moving said mechanism backward and forward.

3. In a repeating firearm, a reciprocating breech mechanism including a breech block and locking bolt, manually controllable means for moving said mechanism baclc ward and forward, means arranged at the rear of said locking bolt and arranged to be compressed by the rearward movement of said locking bolt, the expansion of said means assisting in moving the locking bolt and breech block on the first part of its forward movement, the first part of the rearward movement and the last part of the forward movement of said breech mechanism being free from the influence of said means.

4. In a repeating firearm, a reciprocating breech mechanism including a breech block and locking bolt, manually controllable means for moving said mechanism backward and forward, means arranged at the rear of said locking bolt and arranged to be compressed by the rearward movement of said locking bolt, the expansion of said means assisting in moving the locking bolt and breech block on the first part of its forward movement, said assisting means comprising a spring pressed plunger, said plunger having a shorter range of movement than the range of movement of said breech mechanism.

5. In a repeating firearm, a reciprocating breech mechanism including a breech block and locking bolt, manually controllable means for moving said mechanism backward and forward, means arranged at the rear of said locking bolt and arranged to be compressed by the rearward movement of said locking bolt, the expansion of said means assisting in moving the locking bolt and breech block on the first part of its forward movement, said assisting means comprising a spring pressed plunger, and a relatively stationary support for said spring pressed plunger located at the rear of said locking bolt when the latter is in its rearmost position, said plunger having a shorter range of movement than the range of movement of said breech mechanism.

JOHN H. XVHEELER.

Vitnesses JOHN F. MORAN, CLIFFORD H. SEYMOUR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressing the Gommissioner of latents,

Washington, D. G. 

